1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a sports swing training apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a training device that assists a user in attaining proper eye contact with a ball as it is struck by a piece of sports equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Baseball has been and continues to be a very popular sport in the United States and in many other countries. With the development of better medical understanding of the stresses imposed on players, a variation of the baseball game known as T-ball has become increasingly popular as a means of avoiding injury to young players' arms from throwing baseballs at too early an age. The game of T-ball avoids the necessity of having a skilled catcher and a skilled pitcher. In addition, it allows the batter to concentrate on learning successfully hit the ball and develop a proper swing. To this end, batting tees are well known in the art for use in instructing and improving a baseball player's batting ability. In addition, batting tees are a good training tool for older players at all levels to assist in improving, or correcting, a less than optimum batting swing. Most existing batting tees have a base member constructed in the shape of a home-plate, with a ball supporting post or “tee” extending up from the base member upon which a baseball or the like to be batted is supported. The tee usually has some type of telescopic construction which enables the height of the ball to be adjusted to simulate high and low pitches, as well as to compensate for different sized players or batters. One of the main issues with teaching or correcting a swing is teaching the batter not to move his head, and therefore his eye contact with the ball, before the ball is hit by the bat. While there have been a number of mechanical devices proposed for addressing this issue, none have provided a simple means to accomplish the goal of eye contact with the ball until after it is hit by the bat.
Likewise, golf is one of the most popular sports games in the United States as well as many other parts of the world. Like baseball, one of the most difficult and yet most important requirements of the game is to keep the players eye contact on the ball until the ball has been hit by the head of the golf club. While there have been a number of mechanical devices as well as electronic devises built into the golf club, none have provided a simple means to accomplish the goal of eye contact with the ball until after it is hit by the club.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,198 issued Feb. 13, 1979 to Kanavas, teaches a training device a golfer can attach to his putter to assist in developing accuracy and consistency in his putting.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,339 issued Apr. 2, 1985 to Llewellyn, teaches a device for improving eye-hand coordination in hitting a ball using a tee with a spring loaded swing arm.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,937 issued Apr. 11, 1989 to Gordon, teaches a baseball practice device which may be used as a batting tee or a strike zone indicator having a pair of upright stanchions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,042 issued Apr. 18, 1989 to Landsman, teaches an electronic device which senses when and where a ball hits a racquet on which the electronic device is mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,909 issued Jul. 16, 1991 to Pecker, teaches mounting force sensors on the strings of a racquet in the hitting target area to generate an audible signal when the racquet impacts a ball. Different audible signals sound for different areas of the racquet head.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,362 issued Jan. 14, 1992 to Lillard, teaches an impact-sensing device that visually signals the impact of a ball by the sporting implement to which it is attached.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,001 issued Jan. 10, 1995 to Socci et al. teaches an electrical device for mounting in a batting helmet to audibly tell a batter wearing the batting helmet when his head is not correctly positioned in relationship to his shoulders during a swing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,846 issued Jul. 4, 1995 to Socci et al. teaches another head position warning system for mounting in a batting helmet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,305 issued Sep. 5, 1995 to Socci et al. teaches another variation of a batting helmet mounted head position warning system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,205 issued Dec. 5, 1995 to Bouton teaches an electronic device which is connected to a personal computer and which can determine the club head angle of a golf club as it is used to hit a golf ball and report the information to the personal computer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,250 issued Jul. 23, 1996 to Putz teaches a mechanical golf ball sighting device for mounting on a golfer's hat brim. The device encourages the golfer to keep his head still and his focus on the ball until the club impacts the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,965 issued Dec. 2, 1997 to Nighan Jr. et al. teaches a laser device attachable to a golf club shaft to provide a visual aid during a golf swing which is indicative of the user's position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,663 issued May 5, 1998 to Calace teaches a mechanical device to be attached to a user by means of a mouthpiece for clamping by the user's teeth and to the user's belt at his back to physically restrain the user's head movement during a golf swing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,278 issued Sep. 1, 1998 to Varriano teaches an infrared device for mounting on a user's head to align his eyes with the ball during a swing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,037 issued Nov. 21, 1999 to Watson teaches a mechanical device for maintaining the head position of a batter swinging at a ball by using a mouthpiece clamped in the batter's teeth connected to any attachment means attached to the batter's chest area.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,289 issued Nov. 14, 2000 to Miller et al. teaches a powered, moveable hitting or batting tee.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,307 issued May 29, 2001 to Owen teaches a manually moveable batting or hitting tee.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2002/0183657 published Dec. 5, 2002 to Socci et al. teaches head gear to be worn by a hitter to electronically indicate the hitter's head motion or position.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2003/0036446 published Feb. 20, 2003 to Udwin et al. teaches a baseball hitting kit comprising a ball, a bat, a hitting tee, and a storage container.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2003/0104874 published Jun. 5, 2003 to Galanis et al. teaches a golf club head using an electronic infrared sensing system to determine and report the club head angle during a golf swing.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2004/0014531 published Jan. 22, 2004 to Ziener-Gundersen teaches a device containing at least one microprocessor mountable upon a golf club using a LED or LCD display to show the swing of a club.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2004/0106092 published Jun. 3, 2004 to Galanis et al. teaches an electronic infrared sensing system mounting in a golf club head to determine and report the club head angle during a golf swing.
There remains a need for a simple, easy to use device for training hitters to develop good eye-hand coordination and to keep eye contact with the ball through impact with the ball by a hitting device, such as a bat, club, or racquet, without the need for mounting such a device on the hitter or on the hitting device.